The Sun. — London, England, 1810-03-31 00:00:00

'to maintain the Accusation 'that that 'loss was owing.- to any miscondil - 61 Of Ministers. Gentlemen had contended that Flushing•onght to have been given up, when it was found' that Antwerp could not be taken. Now he begged to- contend Most •confi-' ..dently; thza; so far from ; its being his duty to . recommend the - evacuation of Flushing when the 'ulterior objeet failed, that that very circumstance -made it of infinitely 'greater iinportance to retain it. . If we had taken Antwerp and the enemy's fleet, he should- have thought our security had been etre6,led - but having left such great,naval means.in The . hands of the-enemy, the possession of Walcheren became doubly valuable.' He entreated - .the 'Hansa to - bear always :in memory, that in undertaking ' this expedition, Govertment had two • objr , cts . , in view, viz. -our own• safety and the assistance of . cour ally ; and that as long . as the war cOntinued, - our possession of Walcheren was . perfcctljr secure. The question he was now arguing was not whether it-was - wise to send an Expedition to the .Scheldt; but' whether Waicheren being in k our possession) an island which had been the -object of puriuit to so many Governments; Ministers would have ,been jus:- -tilie.d in giving it tip without taking/every 'Means of - ascertaining whether. it `Was possible to retain it ornot ? Nothing; indeed, but an absolute - conviction in his "troops would have been .destroyc d. And here he would ask it of the candour of Hon_ Gentlemen,' if the evacuation of Walcheren was that which could be done as soon as it had been , resolved up 0e ....:- If it was or could be made the - operation of a day ? Supposing that evacuation to, have been de , termined upon at a given - time—that it had been determioed upon by his Majesty's Ministers, as a wise measure to . evacuate that Island—was there nothing worthy, of consideration as to the propriety of the means by which that'desirable ob jea was to . be carried into effed . ? The first objed ,of their proceedings must be that of the removal of their sick. leould the precipitate abandonment of the 'island have been the. best way to secure that ob- Je6t ? 'Or in order to secure the safe and tranquil re embarkationof the sick, was it not exp e di en t t h a t t h e *healthy troops should be in undisputed possession of the island ?.: Or would it have been a more summary way to have called 'off the healthy tioops at once, and abandoned the: sick to their fate ? Well, then it is ad mitted ahat 'We should have first brought home our sick ; and .now let those Gentlemen who have been so . fine in their random flights at speculative censure, Come down for a moment to the simple sobriety of fact.' The navy could not bring home our sick-- transports must of course have been employed in that 'Melancholy service. After the transports had arrived they necessarily underwent the process of fumigation, and after that, returned to convey the remainder ; for we could not command the means of ton- -nage to convey them all home at once.; and then after the sick had been brought home, and not be fore, commences the evacuation by the healthy part of the troops ; even this slight statement was, he be lieved, sufficient to shew that it was not pos sible to evacuate Walcheren at :the time that it might have been thought expedient to evacuate it. And this brought him to another question, involving still mere conclusive reasotis for : the sub Sequent delay in the retention,' than those arising from mere practical difficulties. Would it have been right, under the existing circumstances, to have evacuated Walcheren so precipitately, rode." pendently of the physical impracticability of doing 'so.? And now Ale would state to the House one . fact—on the tOth of October the Government bad received intelligence to their Minds satisfactery, that hostilities ;were on the • eve of commenc ing between Austria and Frarce.—Now, sap pose Minister's,: after having received that. intelli .gence, had'nevertheleSs determined upon the aban donment 'of 'Walcheren, and that" hostilities upon 1 the Continent had actually • recommenced,' how ; .eaSily was -it to anticipate the torrent of invec tive that would have ponied -upon Ministers from • the Hononrable Gentlemen opposite for abandoning at such period a conquest' before so 'dearly bought, and then so critically important ? Was it rash sup position to imagine at that time the breaking out of hostilities between Aostria and France ? Was 'there nothing in the wavering and uneasy alternations that preceded the Treaty of Vienna, to countenance the belief that the,contending Powers might again rush to arms, and another battle be fought for the politi cal existence of the Continent? And if there were grounds for an eXpectation so. anxious, would Wal cheren have been nothing in our hands against . the common enemy ?—Or would it not have been a most desirable, a most important means of, annoyance ? But there is yet another ground upon' which, conjointly with the preceding, he thought the retention defensible. On the tOth of Oeiober, for the reasons he had stated, it would have been wrong to hate giyen it up, comparing fairly the good and 'evil .arising out of the att Of retention, The good effeas he had observed upon—the bad was in one word, sickness—an evil lessening every day. Look to 'the report of Do€tor 'Blanc—the distemper uniformly abates in Oelober; and terminates - in November. Here then the risks of the evil were momentarily decreasing, while the advantages reasonably to be calculated up on, rose With the crisis itself. At such a crisis, Wal cheren ought to have been kept at any hazard, but at that very crisis the hazard porportionably de creased. And 'yet the ;Gentlemen opposite would. have have it,. that it ought to have, been aban doned'. before the issue of that crisis which might . have- made it 'formidable was ascertained. As to the .conquest itself, as he had already Stated, he j had not ,been without 'Ws apprehensions of its risks;• .But whete was the 'military operation without its haZards ? Gentlemen opposite, would have an expedition subject to no chances, and secure of intermediate as Well as ultimate success. Their theory, he must say, was more perfect than their practice. Hut still it was insisted upon that Walcheren was unhealthy part of the year—why St. Lucia was Unhealthy—St. -Domingo was unhealthy. We retained them • and yet, though beyond compa rison more, unheahly, they were beneath compari sbn with the acknowledged importance of Walche ren. Fle would detain the House no longer, weari ed as was their attention,. and exhausted as was the subject. He had reluctOntly endeavoured,, as it were, to drag them along with him through a length -of 'detail that lent him no aid, and to tyhictehis very 'humble efforts could impart no interest. He thanked the House foi• the candour of their attention, arid he Should 'sir doWn with simply seating, that it was his anxious and earnest wish to retain Walcheren, if that 'retention cotild have been practicable ; and that-their .greatest 'regret was, - that it was 'not possible to retain a conquest, which, if retained, 'would have proved invaluable: The Right Hon. Gentleman then sat . amidst a cry of Hear; hear ! The House now became exceedingly anxious for the question, when _ _ mind that it was impossible to keep Walcheren With, .buta greater expence of men and money than seem - - ed•to be within the .means of this country; would have induced him to give ,it up. Men were certainly alWays bad judges in - their own cause, but be :felt no , difficulty. 'in stating, .that if Mini;• steri had, upon the first knowledge of the failure of the expedition, given up Walcheren; they woald have been .the - objects of accusation .by the Gentlethen opposite, for having adOpted that very • conduct -A;hich they. now blamed for not having pursued. He entreated: the House to consider what was the situation of Ministers when they were in possession of a position of such immense importance to the enemy, both. in a naval • and - commercial point of view. He knew there were' Gentlemen -who affected to treat commerce • cial objects with contempt, - but his Majesty's Ministers would' not have been e jtistitied in acting uperLsueh a feeling. They knew the commec cial importance of Antwerp ; they knew that in 'lBo6' the - Custorris of that city were one-third " more than ihose of • all the other ports of France put . • together ; they knew, also; that by'retaining cheren; the 'enemy would not only be deprived • of that revenue, bilt of all trade from whiCh it pro ceeded. It was therefore' a question of irnpokance, whether they should give up Ate key of that.cent= mercial town. This" he admitted was a small .oles:: . t-% je•compared with Antwerp, as a naval station ; but Certainly it waS one which _Ministers would • not have been just fied in leaving, out of their _ Considcfration. Ti' . had been stilted by his Right. Honourable Friend (Mr.. Canning,) that the last advice . of Lord Grey, when he was going out of . office,`td his successors, was, to attend to the growing strength of the enemy in that querter. The b3ITIO ,übiect occupie d Mr. Pitt's attention in his first . and in hiS second Administration, and also that of Lord Sidinouthe and the plan was abandoned; not because the place was not healthy . , but becauge a suf . 4eient disposable force could not be spared for the purpose of attacking ' it. If the plan of attacking Walcheren had been given up by their different Ad , ministration's, becanse . the island was unhealthy, they would not have recurred, as they did fronltime time, to thb same projea, because that objection • would have always applied. His Maje..ty's rvTinis ters had therefore the 'authority of all these prece ,: ding Governments in their favour, With regard to • the importance of obtaining this object, and it cer tainly could not be supposed that Mr. Pitt, Lord Sid mouth, 'or Lord Grenville meant to have-taken Wal cheren and to have given it up irninediStcly ; they , must have meant to retain it. In 'addition to theSe authorities, lie might have qu'oted thbse of LordNel ... son,LordSt.Vincent, - and indeed of almoSteveryNaval Officer. It vt ouldnot be fdrgotten that the House had b e r e yet hem the Letter of Sir R,Strachan, pointing out the importance, of Walcheren, and pressing Mini , . • siers, in the strongest manner, not to give it up, • until he had an opportunity of conversing with them upon the subject. In what a situation would Minister's, have Stood, if, after this: letter froM Sir • R. Strachan, they had at once, without examination, without consultation,, abandoned the Island. If such been their• conduct, how loud ..would - have been the accasation.g. of.' the. Gentlemen oppo-: site to him. • He felt that against such a charge. be should have been unable to make a defence. L et i t be. ecollected that ,liliniaters had an opinion, befOie them that Walcheren was tenable, and for that opinieii he referred to the evidence of Sir H. p op l ) arn. _lt was also to be considefed that neither from the dispatches" of Lord Chatham,• - •nor from" any thing ,the Noble Lord stated on his return. from the EXpetlition, could Ministers Collect any thing to weaken the opinion they were induced to adept, as • to the • practicability of .retaining this island. The Noble• Lord, no doubt, urged the.pro • priety df furtUsning an aoeqeate garrison, 'but not a 'Word about - the indefenslaiiity of theisland. It would, no doubt, be asked, . why abandon 'Waleheren under all these considerations ? He would answer, in 'con s,!nnence'of the second report of Sir 'R. Sirachan,' v, hick •‘va 4 . Iftnoug -the documents on the table. In 'the first- Letter;' this gallant — Officer stated, that Walcheren was quite tenable; that" a plan for its coati:tete defence. was: drawtg up., and that it •• ought not be _given up. But• in - the latter re port,clhe gallant. Officer communicated his opi .nion, that ,'in consequence of :the cei , ,,ltion of the war with Austria; the enemy would ,be enabled to larinlT, such a' force to, aa asainst Walcheren 'as it would not .. be in 'the, power- of this 'Conutry; with • • any reastetable proportion of its means, to veil hstaride : - IViinisters therefore determined on the evactiatton of • the islend. •-• _ Mr. R. DON DAi arose, and after some time obtain eda hearing. He assured the Hopse, that at that late hour in the morning (tour o'clock) he would not detain them - long, but allusions of a personal nature having been made, he conceived it his duty to reply tb - t he n. His Majesty's Ministers had been charged with intrigues and cabals, and with having sacrificed by them to e lives: of many brave men. The. Hon. Gentkarm, who. had' u,ed that language would not be surprised it he (Mr. D.) should 'call . fdr some , . thing inure conclusive than his mere 'ass . ation for the truth of it. It my_ Lords Grey and Grenville, •and all the Talents hart been in power ; the Island of WalCheren . . would not .gave been evacuated one li,mr sooner thanit was. With - respea.to the. topics which had been urged by 'the Hon. Baronet (Sir If upon due consideration b had been found expei• client 40 kt ep the Island,- means. might and would bav6-been 'taken tp: secure th ealth of!ihe troopg ! would have been had to floating barracks, fur' it w,ls to be 64served 41tat the -sailors were not afflicted with 'bit sickness, Indeed, . with ont - naval i ne ',„ is , a considet,ble , part of -the garrison. of Flush ! . ing bave passed aist of year on the ) 11c, : 40., 'le.,-;t4. , r0 the. is to ap ; ;lid, any l*..);i The Debate upon the Walcherei Expedition ter minated this morning, in the rejection of all the Re solutions proposed against Ministers. We have not room to make any comment upon the subject at pre= sent, except to. observe that on-the last division, the majority for the Amendment was but 23, -though Lord PORCHESTER'S original Resolutions had been negatived by ai. This circumstance was occasioned by many of the friends of Adthinistration having left the House, under a conception' that the Opposition would not have gone to another division, after the rejection of their own main Resolution. The Op position, however, observing this, were glad of an opportunity. of reducing, in appearance, the majority against them.• In this last division Mr. CANNING S party divided asainat itself that- Centloa-tan and Mr. SfURGES BOURNE voting for. the question, and, Lord GRANViLLE LEVESON and Mr. CHARLES EL - Lis against it. . We yesterday gave some, of the contents .of the Portuguese Papers that we had received, to the_ 18th inst. The same Papers, in an article from Valen cia, dated the 16th of February, state, that positive accounts had been received of new defeats of. the French,- and that AUGERUAU, after all his boasting, was shut up in. Barcelona. Another article, dated Manresa, Feb..l3, says, the Spaniards had destroy ed, between Mallet and San Perpetaa, a whole di vision, which were coming from Barcelona. In the first aaion,- at the latter place, only two of the enemy, out of 400, escaped, the rest having been either killed or taken prisoners. .In the .second, fought at Mallet, only 250 escaped, out of 1500. Five hundred aid twenty of the enemy had been brought prisoners into Tarrasa, with sixteen .otfi-' . !;) I.iLHAARD HARRIS, or No. 4, Al artlemcourt, Bovv . .street ; and Prblished by WILLIAM A UMW, E R SCRIPPS, South Moltnn.street, Grovvenor .zq uarc, ' :JUN-OFFICE No. 112 Strand, where ddvertisemvits 'Orders for the Paper, Letters for the editor, &c. (poipria), naug be addrelseo. SWI FT and Co. J)ESPECTFULLY inform the Publi c , that they have on Sale the Tickets and Shares of the • NEW LOTTERY, Which will begin aria finish Drawing on the Bth JUNE. The Scheme is on the same approved, principle as the last, having only 5,c00 Numbers, with zoo,oool. in Prizes, amonli which are • FORTY 'CAPITALS • • In addition to these, the Public are presented with Four EXTRA PRIZES . of Tickets, four of a , Number, by Which - the Adventurer Ims the chance of gaining Four Prizes of;zo,000l. by the purchas(; Oa. single Ticket. The following Capital Prizes have been Shared and Svid at their Offices, No. u. Poultry; N 2. Iz, Charing-cross ; , and No. 31, Aldgate High-street: 6 ,791 - ‘20,000 23,824 - £ to s °. )r, 599 - Z . 5,01/ 8,824 . 20,000 17,612 - 1 otot 20 ,439 e .5 ,0^0 ~ 11,070 - 20,000 20,952 ' . 10,0 , - 7,95 t - 5,0 0 - 13,861 - 20,000 21,295 - to,ooo 19,556 - 5,00 0 9,362 - 10, 6 00 7,157 . - 10,000 15,984 .. 2,00 0 184 ,- 10,000 4,099 - 5, 000 1 8, 112 .. 2 ,00 0 226 - 10,000 12,035 - 5,000 11,199 - 2,00 0 8,041 - 10,000 I 231 ,- 5,000 I 17,21;1 .. 2, 000 23,621 . 1,0,000 19,247 - 5, 000 753 - 2,000 Three of the Capitals were Shared and Sold at their Office! in the Last Lottery. -. F..Burdett) • respe6ling the answer of the' King to Citizens of Loi:lnn; when they presented their Ad d.ess for. an inquiry into the failure at Walcheren, his Majesty had stated that there was no necessity to institute any Military Inqulry. The Noble Lord (Porchester) had very candidly confessed that. no blame was imputable to the Military or Naval Com manders of the Expedition, yet his Resolutions in cluded them in censure. He would ask the Gen tlemen opposite, whether, when the clamour had been raised against these Commanders throughout the country, and when, the Noble Lord did not in his speech attach blame to them, an apology from those Gentlemen for having raised, the clamour was not necessary, and whether an expression of retrac-' tion should not have been expressed in the-Resolu tions ? Did the House think that the interests of "country would be benefited by Ministers yielding to the fadious clamours of any set of men merely for a momentary gratification,. and bring military men to trial (he would not say disgrace, because acquit tal must. necessarily have followed in that case) ?•—• Would it be endured he would repeat, that two me ritorious Officers should be placed . in' jeopardy for the sake of satisfying the shabby, paltry, and con temptible feelings of any set of men ? The Right Hon. Gentlemen trusted it would operate as a warp ing to the country in future, and that they could not easily give in to such. feelings. When 'Military Officers - did their duty, as- in the present instance, they were entitled to some better reward-after being liable to the fortune of war, audit would not- be an as of justice in any Minister to.abandon them: - The . call for the question was again. loudly re peated. Mr. BROUGHAM however persevered in speaking amidst, the coughs, and cry of question. His ob . jest was.to defend the conduct of the Gentlemen oh the opposite side of the House, but the elm - hour drowned the Learned Gentleman's . voice. Sir HOME POPHAM wished to clear up!.two or three points. We 'endeavoured to catch the expla nation, bet the House was so clamorous: we could not` collect it correctly. - Strangers were then ordered to withdraw, and. the House divided on the original Resolutions of Lord Porchester; For Ministers - - 2 75 For the Resolutions - 227 Majority for Ministers -48 A second divisipu then took place on tile first re -solption of General Craufurd, which was as an amendment to the original resolutions.' Ayes - 272, Noes, - - .232 Majority for Mil isters . A"third' division took place on the - omission of the word. " nor," which was moved by Mr. CAN-. • NINO.. Ayes - - - 275 Noes - 224 Majority for Ministers ---sr The fourth diVisit;o -was, on the last Resolution of General Craufurd, declaratory of the approbation of House in the retention 61 Waleheren, _andconse, quently approving the conduet-of Ministers in that respect . , Ayes - - - - 255 Noes - - - - 232, iVlajOrity for Ministers -23 During the ,division, while the Ayes were in the Lobby, the CHANCELLOR of . the EXCHEQUER ad dressed them, requesting they would not depart, for another division might be - called for. It did not; however, take place; and at half-past seven o'clock this morning the House adjourned. NIA' LS. Al 2 IV ED-I Jamaica, i Dublin, i Waterford., Vuz—z Gottenburgli, i Cadiz, i Malta, i Waterford. PRICE 01 IiTOCI.S THIS DAY AT TWELVE O'CLOCK. Consols - - 68 L N . SOLEM QUIS DICZRE FALSUM AUDEA ; F ? L 0 N 1) 0 IV , SATURDAY, MARCH 31,, 181 d. cers, a Colonel, Stc. The rest were all left dead on the field. The Marquis DE CAMPO VERDE com manded the Spaniards in the first aetion, and in the second, with the - assistance of Don PORTA. A patriot at Coruna had offered to . maintain 20,000 men, for one month. The Badajoz Diaries of the gth, state the Spa nish Armies in Estremadura at 40,900 men,, con sisting of 26,000 disposable troops, and the garri son of that place. The Fl - ench,. after, a severe loss before Ayamente, are said to have pbandoned that place on the 7th inst. The inhabitantsof Lower Mancha bad risen and killed several Spanish Trai tors;, they had proceeded to destroy the enemy which gUarded the. road between Madrid and 4e vile ; and that 20,000 had !advanced from Valen cia for Upper Valencia - , in ord4r• to surprize the points of New Castile. Our Dover Letter now positively states, that Flag of Truce was seen last night off that part, • We received private letters and papers from Bar badoes this day to the 11th ult. It appears that the necessary diminution of the garrisoirat"Martinique, for the purpose of the Expedition against Guadaloupe, had.i nduced the prisoners of war; and several of the irt habitants, to• rise Avid) the 'view of seizing Fort Ed ward but their plot was however suppressed by the timely vigour of Gen. CARMICHAEL, whO on the 25111 ult. had been apprized .of their intention. The discovery was made at the moment when the .Star sloop of war was working out of Fort Royal Bay s , but was recalled, and assisted " in' tbe counteracting the treacherous design. NAVAL. NEWS' PLYMOUTH, MARCH 29.—Arrived the French brig privateer Le Naravois, of 16 18-pounders and a complement of 148 men, from Bayonne, cap* tared on the 2 tst inst. by, the Rhin frigate, Capt• MALCOLM ; which ship was left in chase of another privateer. The Naravois sailed on the 17th inst. in company with three large brig privateers. Arrived'the Clenantina from 'Greenock. Sailed the Aimable frigate for the Baltic. PORTSMOUTH, MARCH 30.—Arrived the Tweed sloop of war, of 18 guns, from the. West Indies,. and the Hawke sloop of war, of 16 guns, from the Coast of Africa. Also the Formidable, of 98 gunti, from Plymouth, bound to. the Baltic. FALMOUTH, MARCH 28.—The Lady Pella') packet, Capt. FIARVEY, is now off this port, frotn.Jainaica, but it being late, cannot learn how long sbe has been on her passage. • ' DEAL, MARCH 30.—Arrived his Majestys shits Tribune, L'ilimiable, and Tartgr, from the Wept' Came down frotri the River the Canton and Gag e, East.lndiamen, and remain with a large fleet of Outward-bound ; among them are th . e Indus, So vereign, Sir William Beasley, Diana, Phoenix, and the Upton Castle, all for India. The Right Hon. CHARLES YORKE has been re turned for the borough of Westbury. A Court-Martial was held on board the Salvador deliMundo, in -Hamoaze, on eight seamen of the Naiad, Captain HILL, 'charged with mutiny, by writing a letter to, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, in the name of the ship's company, re' questing another Captain, &c.—After minute inves tigation, the 'Court sentenced three Of them t o be hung, four to receive corporal punishment, and Otte was acquitted,Captain DURHAM, President. Yesterday a Court of Directors was held at dig East India House, when the extra ships Larkins , Hele, and . Tyne, were stationed for Bengal direo.- - The destination of the Earl Spencer was altered iron? Bengal direef, to Madeira, Ceylon, and BerQl. NOLLEK4NS, the PHIDIAS Of hiti day, is at present.: employed in making a bust of Mr. CANNING, 1° the Marquis WELLESLEY. 4 % 17 11, 4 tie I [il e I i A . t,, 1 1 ; r 1 i r , . \if)